EMC Acquires Isilon

In an effort to ramp up its mid-range storage systems product line, EMC Corp., one of the world’s top information infrastructure technology developers, has purchased Isilon Systems. Under the terms of the agreement, EMC will pay $33.85 per share in cash in exchange for each share of Isilon for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.25 billion, net of Isilon’s existing cash balance.

Joe Tucci, chairman and CEO of EMC Corp., said in a press release, “The unmistakable waves of cloud computing and ‘big data’ are upon us. Customers are looking for new ways to store, protect, secure and add intelligence to the vast amounts of information they will accumulate over the next decade. EMC, in combination with Isilon, sits at the intersection of these trends with leading products, solutions and services to help customers get the absolute most out of what cloud computing has to offer.”

Sujal Patel, CEO of Isilon, also chimed in saying, “Our excitement about the opportunity to become part of EMC’s world-class team cannot be overstated. EMC’s track record of successfully acquiring, integrating and growing leading companies and the complementary nature of our technologies are undeniable.”

EMC isn’t the only vendor gobbling smaller players in an attempt to corner the lucrative data storage market. Earlier this year, Hewlett Packard completed its acquisition of data-storage maker 3Par for $2.35 billion. The deal followed in the footsteps of a bidding war with Dell as HP aims to increase its data storage and cloud computing capabilities. And yesterday, IBM announced the completion of the acquisition of renowned data warehouse company, Netezza Corp. as previously announced by IBM on Sept. 20. IBM acquired Netezza in an all cash transaction of $1.70 billion or $27 per share. Not surprisingly, acquisition-happy IBM has invested over $14 billion in 24 strategic acquisitions.